Ruby Philpott, Chelsea Spencer and Annie Dunham from Spalding Indoor Bowls Club are part of the England side that regained the Clara Johns Trophy at Llanelli
A trio of bowlers from the Spalding Indoor Club have helped England to glory in the British Isles International Series and Championships.
Ruby Philpott, Chelsea Spencer and Annie Dunham were part of the England side that regained the Clara Johns Trophy at Llanelli Indoor Bowls Club in Wales.
They were competing against Wales, Ireland and Scotland with Philpott and Spencer playing in the same rink at lead and skip respectively.
Dunham also skipped her own rink with Emma Cooper, Sandy Hazell and Holly Chaytor.
The main contenders for winning the event are usually England and Scotland with the last time neither of them taking the series being back in 1988 when Wales won in Llanelli.
England started strongly against the host nation Wales, winning on five of the six rinks and 137-94 on aggregate.
They followed this up the next day against Ireland with a comprehensive victory on all rinks and 162-93 win.
Philpott and Spencer's rink enjoyed 32-11 and 23-12 wins while Dunham's recorded 25-20 and 31-18 rink successes.
Although Scotland beat Ireland, they were defeated by a single shot against Wales which meant that England could afford to lose by 14 shots and still win the series.
In a match with great history and rivalry, the Scots were clearly up for the challenge and were at one point 85-71 in front but the England girls showed their battling qualities to win the match 112-103 and regain the title.
Philpott and Spencer's rink won 21-20 while Dunham's rink also had a one shot 17-16 win.
The Spalding trio were also battling to be British Isles champions in a competition which pitted the national champions from each country against each other.
Philpott, Spencer and Dunham were in the ladies triples event and were joined by Dominic McVittie in the men's singles.
In the ladies triples, they unfortunately found the Welsh trio of Kelly and Kerry Packwood and Amy Williams too strong on the day as they lost a highly competitive match 13-19.
The Welsh girls went on to beat the Scotland representatives in the final.
In the men’s singles, McVittie beat Ireland's Adam McKeown 21-11 to set up a final with Ross Owen from Wales.
McVittie took an early 5-1 lead but, with the host crowd behind him, Owen got a foothold in the game, eventually winning 21-14.
Owen also won the British Isles singles title outdoors in 2024 so is only the second player in history to hold both the indoor and outdoor titles at the same time.
Spalding's Stephen Harris was selected to lead a rink for England's men with Ian Lesley, James Hampton and Rob Paxton.
England were defending champions but didn't start the series well as they lost against Wales by one shot 99-98.
This was the first time in many years that Wales had beaten England at the indoor series as Harris' rink won a close match 16-14.
England bounced back to winning ways against Ireland though as they won on five of the six rinks and overall 139-93 as Harris' rink enjoyed another win, this time 25-14.
With Scotland beating Ireland and Wales, England needed to defeat Scotland by 13 shots to win the series and retain the Hilton Trophy.
Changes were made to the England team as McVittie was recalled, playing at number three to Sam Tolchard, with Ryan Whitlock and new cap Mike Titcombe.
Lesley had to drop out due to illness so Perry Martin went in at number two in the rink Harris was leading.
Unfortunately, Scotland proved too strong on the day as they won 104-97 to take the series.
McVittie's rink lost 15-20 against Darren Burnett while Haris' rink went down 13-22 against Stewart Anderson.
With Wales beating Ireland, this meant that England finished third.
Spalding Lightning were well represented in the Lincolnshire county semi-finals day at Boston on Sunday.
Results: Singles – Dominic McVittie 21 Sam Ashton (Lincoln) 10; Singles – Dan Mills 21 Chris Hanslip (Louth) 15; Sets Singles – Jordan Philpott 2 John Nott (Lincoln) 0; Over 60 Singles – Martin Simpson 21 Trevor Bannister (Sleaford) 18.
Pairs – Graham Smith and Jordan Philpott 7 Simon Lilley and Stephen Harris 18; Mixed Pairs – Jean Patterson and Dominic McVittie 17 Helen Quirke and David Bristow (Sleaford) 15; Fours – Dan Mills, Brian Martin, Ean Morton and Tristan Morton 19 Mark Freemantle, Dan Stanley, Richard Benjamin and Simon Reeson (Louth) 14; Fours – Graham Smith, Kevin Ekins, Simon Lilley and Jordan Philpott 13 Stephen Harris, Martin Spencer, Mathew Orrey and Dominic McVittie 14.
Due to McVittie and Philpott being in four events, the triples semi-final between Graham Smith, Simon Lilley and Jordan Philpott and Martin Spencer, Mathew Orrey and Dominic McVittie will be played on a date yet to be confirmed.
Spalding Lightning played in the semi-final of the Yetton Plate against Avon Valley at Nottingham IBC on Saturday.
The match was closely contested throughout with the lead changing on several occasions but Avon Valley finished the stronger of the two teams as they won by 13 shots (73-86).
Spalding Lightning did manage one winning rink though which was skipped by Maisie Belding, with Ann Newbury, Jan Sinclair and Carly Morris who won 27-8.
Rink scores: Ann Newbury, Jan Sinclair, Carly Morris and Maisie Belding won 27-8; Danielle Wild, Carole Nunney, Betty Deaton and Chelsea Spencer lost 20-23; Maggie Wheatley, Trish Stafford, Mandy Parkins and Julie Hicks lost 16-27; Jean Patterson, Petrine Ault, Tracy Philpott and Karen Martin lost 10-28.
Men's and ladies club president Kevin Ekins and Julie Hicks would like to thank everyone who participated in the President's Day.
A total of £244.80 was raised for Cancer Research, the club charity of the year, from the raffle and excess monies.
The men won the match but a great afternoon was had by all.
